


Let's Be Friends!

by KachiKirby



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Comedy, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Friendship, Gen, Lots of Wholesome Moments, Too many Characters to name, Updates infrequently
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28433109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KachiKirby/pseuds/KachiKirby
Summary: A collection of one-shots focusing on Kirby and one of his many friends.
Relationships: Kirby (Kirby) & Everyone
Kudos: 21





	1. Knuckle Joe

**Chapter 1: Knuckle Joe**

"What's this about a tag-team tournament?"

It was a regular day in Dreamland. Kirby was resting underneath a tree when he was visited by a familiar friend by the name of Knuckle Joe.

"It's as I said, they're holding a tag-team fighting tournament today! You wanna join up with me and fight together?"

Kirby scratched his head for a moment. He'd question what the prize for winning was, but he also knew that Joe would sometimes show up to tournaments uninvited just to beat down the competition and prove he's better than everyone there. Every time he has, he was successful and has since earned the nickname "Steel-Fist Joe".

"Come on, it'll be fun!" The fighter added on.

"I don't know…I think that's more of your thing…" The puff uttered in hesitation, slightly worried his response would upset his friend. While he normally would think the idea of joining a tournament to fight alongside his friend would sound fun, he had finished a long training session with his mentor just this morning. He had mostly recovered from the exhaustion that resulted from it, but he still wanted to rest for the remainder of the day.

However, Knuckle Joe gave a grin. "…if we win, I'll buy us dinner!"

Upon hearing that, Kirby immediately hopped to his feet. "WELL, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR, LET'S GO!" He quickly ran off.

"Wait a minute! Kirby! The stadium is the other way! You're going in the wrong direction! …ugh!" The fighter chased after him.

* * *

It didn't take long to register at the front. As Kirby and Knuckle Joe entered, the crowd within the stadium roared with excitement.

"Wow, I didn't know there would be so many people here!" The pink puff looked around, amazed at the sights around him.

"Heh...I hope you don't have stage fright, Kirby! This is nothing like the Megaton Punch tournaments!"

"Of course not! I fight well under pressure, you know!" As someone who had participated in Dedede's Cake Royale, Kirby was used to being watched by a massive crowd of people.

"You better keep up that attitude throughout the whole tournament!" his friend rubbed his nose. Thinking about it further, Kirby began to be reminded of the Cake Royale. He was asked to use a single ability for it (Fighter, for this instance) and had to fight in front of a large crowd. Just then, there was a screech from a microphone. The sound, of course, came from Walky.

"Ah, Kirby! We'll be starting soon!" Joe pointed out.

"Welcome one and all to the whatever-annual Dreamland Tag Team Tournament! We kind of lost track of how many times we did this kind of tournament after number 50 and..."

"Ugh...I thought we were going to start, but he just went on a tangent..." Joe shrugged with a sigh. Walky loved to hear himself talk and often went off-topic, even when he was acting as a public announcer.

"Well, it just gives us time to stretch and warm up a bit before we start, right?" Kirby replied as he began to stretch and loosen up his limbs. The last thing he wanted to do was sprain one of his limbs. That had already happened once during a Megaton Punch tournament and it was one of the most physically painful things he had ever experienced.

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea." Knuckle Joe joined him and the two stretched together while they waited for the microphone being to finish his unrelated tangent.

* * *

Walky had been talking on a tangent for approximately three minutes.

"…you see, we were originally going to have it be one on one, but with such a big prize at stake, it would not be fair to restrict it to a single person…"

"OH FOR NOVA'S SAKE, JUST START ALREADY!" an irritated voice from the crowd shouted.

"Oh...uh...right, right, I'm sorry. So, for the first round, we have Team 1, made up of the Pink Demon, Kirby and Steel-Fist Joe!" The crowd roared upon hearing their names. "And in this corner is their opponent…Knuckle Ryu and Knuckle Ken!" The opponents were similar looking to Knuckle Joe but wore a white and red gi. Knuckle Joe stared at the opponents in deep thought.

"Is something wrong, Joe?" Kirby questioned.

"Oh, it's nothing, I just think I beat these guys at the last tournament I went to uninvited…" his friend uttered.

"Was it one where you beat down everyone just to prove your fighting style was better!?"

"Yup." The pink puff only looked back at the team. He hoped they wouldn't get angry if they recognized his friend. The opponent in a white gi got into a fighting stance.

"I wonder, what will your fists tell me?" he uttered.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kirby blinked in confusion.

"Heh… don't mind him, he's always saying stuff like that." The opponent wearing a red gi shrugged. "Though, I do have a question. Kicks or punches, which is better?"

"Punches" The reply was unanimous.

"Darn, I'm outnumbered here."

"You'll find fellow kickers soon enough, Ken. Now, let the fight begin!"

"Round One!" Walky shouted. "Ready? Go!"

Kirby was the first to begin with a Smash Punch, sending Ken sliding back. This left Knuckle Joe to fight the second opponent. Both opponents were equally strong, but it seemed that the puff and his friend had the overall advantage. After a particularly harsh hit, Kirby's opponent was thrown across the arena.

"Heh, not bad! Time to turn up the heat!" The red fighter proceeds to use fire kicks, which were easily dodged.

"Oh! That's cool I wanna try that!" With a quick movement, the pink ball replicated his opponent's kicks perfectly, causing him to guard.

"Wow, how did you that so fast!?"

"Good question, I'll think about it later."

Meanwhile with Joe and Ryu slowly looked back at each other. Before Knuckle Joe could do anything, he was hit with an uppercut from his opponent, sending him immediately to the ground. Managing to dodge a kick, Kirby looked back over at him in concern, only to notice Joe standing back up and delivering an uppercut of his own.

"We appear evenly matched." Joe glared at his opponent in a fighting stance.

"That we are. I wonder though, which of us will drop out first?" "Well, it certainly won't be me!" Joe only gave a slight smirk.

"Then come on!" Joe charged at his opponent and gave several quick punches, all of which were being blocked.

"Hmph, you seem to have gotten better since the last time we fought." He uttered and then threw his opponent off guard with a kick. Ultimately, their straightforward tactics were a success, as it didn't take long for their opponents to fall to the ground.

"MEGA FORCE BLAST!" the ground shook from the impact of both fighters hitting the floor.

"Unbelievable, that's a clean sweep victory for Kirby and Knuckle Joe!" Walky yelled as the crowd cheered. "Man, I can't believe we lost in the first round…" Ken uttered as Kirby helped him up.

"Nothing we can do about it now, Ken." Ryu stood up and turned towards Knuckle Joe.

"We lost fair and square, Joe!"

"Uh…yeah…so?"

"Keep up the good work." Ryu crossed his arms with a nod.

"You too pink dude!" Ken waved over towards Kirby.

"Thanks! That was fun! Let's do it again some time!" he waved back.

Then the other two fighters exited the stadium.

* * *

It was around time for the second round to start and the duo could see that their next opponents were two giant stag beetles, one yellow and the other wearing some type of hat and jacket.

"…wait, I think I recognize the guy with the hat…" Joe uttered.

"Was it from another tournament you went to uninvited?!" Kirby exclaimed.

"No, it's…actually I forget where." He scratched his head while trying to remember.

"In this corner, we have the Pink Demon and Steel-Fist Joe!" Walky began and then turned to their opponents. "And in this corner…King and Marduk!"

"Oh well, it's not important now…" Joe uttered as he got into his stance as their next opponents walked over towards them.

"So, you little bugs are our opponents? Is this some kind joke? Where's the actual competition!?" The beetle wearing a hat sneered. His partner, King gives a thumbs down, though Kirby was uncertain if it's directed towards the duo or Marduk's behavior.

"Who you calling a bug, you…you bug!" Joe barely managed to snap back.

"If that's the best material you got, then this fight is already in the bag!" The bug laughed.

"Oh yeah? Let's see how well that holds up! You ready, Kirby!?"

"Yeah! I plan on giving these guys a taste of their own medicine!" Kirby replied with a nod, readying his stance.

"Oh yeah, small fry? What makes you think you can even hurt me?" Marduk glared over at the pink puff.

"Ever heard of the Megaton Punch competition?"

"Well duh, everyone has."

"Then you should recognize me as the winner of the last one, right?" The bug let out a massive laugh after Kirby said that. "HAHAHAHHAHA! That's a good…joke." His face slowly turned to shock, as if he had finally processed what Kirby had said. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes. Let's go, Joe!" With a nod, the two readied their stances.

"Round two! FIGHT!"

The duo charged at their opponents. However, Kirby was quickly grabbed by the silent opponent and thrown into the ground, losing his Fighter Copy Ability.

"HAHAHAHA! That's what ya get for overselling yourselves!" Marduk laughed while he held Joe in his jaws. The Ability Star hit a spike and was instantly destroyed. "Ah…there's no way I can easily fight this guy normally!" he floated over an incoming attack. "I need to find another Copy Ability quick!" Kirby dodged another charging attack before opening his mouth and inhaling deeply.

"Gahhhh! Look out! The Pink Demon is using his inhale! Wait, is he even allowed to do that? Hey! Someone! Can anyone tell me if he's allowed to do THAAAATTTTTT?!" Walky shouted as he got caught up in the vortex and was swallowed by Kirby. The pink puff transformed, gaining a set of red earphones with stars on them. It was as if a switch was flipped because the whole audience stopped cheering the moment Kirby gained his new Copy Ability.

"Oh…that ain't good…" Marduk uttered in horror once he noticed how silent the entire stadium became.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Joe scrambled to cover his ears as Kirby seemed to gain a sparkle in his eyes upon realizing what Ability he had.

"Ah! It's time to listen to my song, everyone! This song's called "Interstellar Flight"!"

Knuckle Joe braced himself for the impact of Kirby's singing attack.

* * *

After the attack from the Microphone ability, Knuckle Joe managed to pull himself back up after the impact, only to see that the entire stadium had been emptied out except for their two opponents, now laying on the ground.

"Beaten, by a small fry…." Marduk managed to utter before he falls unconscious.

King silently gives a thumbs up and passes out himself.

"Aw…no one wanted to hear my singing…" Kirby gave a slightly saddened pout as he flipped once in the air, turning the headphones back into Walky.

"Guh! That was awful! Don't you do that again!" the microphone scolded Kirby, who lowered his head. The crowd began to file back into the stadium as Walky announced their victory.

"And the winners of this Round are Kirby and Knuckle Joe!" The duo high fived. "Buuuttt, we might need an intermission to get everyone back in the stadium after that Microphone attack…" Kirby rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he walked off with Joe. As the duo approach one of the entrances, they hear shouting and sees a red Blade Knight arguing with the tournament staff.

"What do you mean I can't compete!?" the knight exclaimed in fury.

"Sir, this is a tag tournament. You need a partner…" The Waddle Dee at the gate replied.

"My sword is my partner!" he pointed to the giant sword on his back.

"No weapons allowed. If you want a weapon tournament, that's next week."

After hearing that conversation, Kirby had a vague feeling that his mentor might having him participate in that as an excuse for additional training.

"Ok, Kirby, you got any ideas for your next ability?" Joe asked, breaking the puff out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I know!" Kirby pulled out a Wrestler mask and showed it to his friend.

"...we're not doing that." His friend replied bluntly.

"Oh, you're no fun sometimes, Joe." Kirby grumbled with a pout.

"Ugh…whatever… just find something else…" The fighter began to look around for anything that can be used as a Copy Ability. Shortly after that statement, Kirby pulls out the headband for the Suplex Ability. Knuckle Joe gave a sigh before adding. "Kirby, I said no."

"You said no to Wrestler, not to Suplex." The puff replied with a triumphant grin.

"It's the same thing Kirby…"

"... say that again." The somewhat dark tone of that reply made Joe almost regret what he said.

* * *

The duo returned to the stadium with the Fighter Copy Ability to wait for the next match. However, Kirby had a noticeable pout on his face as Walky began talking again.

"So, uh…I had a talk with the judges, and they agreed to not disqualify Kirby for using Microphone as long as he doesn't use it again. As a result, we will have Copy Essences on standby in case he requires one."

Kirby didn't say it, but the problem with that statement is that usually his first instinct is to try and find something to inhale before using a Copy Essence.

"In this corner, we have the Pink Demon and Steal-Fist Joe!" The microphone then turned to the other side of the ring. "And in this corner, we have their opponents, Kusanagi and Yagami!"

Across the ring were two Burning Leos. One was red with purple flames on his head and the other had normal colored flames and was wearing a white jacket.

"Go, Kusanagi! You can do it! Yagami, don't get in his way!" Kirby and Joe heard a shout from the stands and looked to see a Waddle Dee in a blue outfit and white headband yelling out.

"Does that nuisance have to follow you everywhere?" The red Leo, Yagami, grumbled.

"Do you have to complain about everything? He's just being supportive." His partner argued, only to get a huff in response.

"Whatever. Why did I agree to this again?"

"Don't ask me! You forced yourself on me about it, remember?" The red one gave a glare back.

"You got a problem with that?"

"I don't know, do you?" The red one gave a snarl.

"After this tournament, I'm taking you down!"

"Go ahead and try you ba-!"

"Uh, guys?" Knuckle Joe finally spoke.

"WHAT!?" both opponents snapped at him.

"Are you gonna continue with this lovers quarrel or fight?" he crossed his arms.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL US!?" the fire on both of the Leos' heads erupted as they shouted that.

"I think you made them mad, Joe..." Kirby uttered in response.

"Eh, at least we can actually fight now." Joe said with a scoff.

"Round Three! Fight!" Walky shouted. The red Leo was first to rush towards Knuckle Joe, trying to strike at him with claw-like attacks of fire.

"Ah…they're different than other Burning Leos I've seen!" Kirby noted before throwing a punch towards his own opponent, which was blocked.

"Ah, they're actual fighters!" The puff continued to dodge the flaming punches sent his way.

Kirby managed to land a kick, but his opponent quickly recovered before continuing with his assault. It was so much that he didn't have a chance to look over at what was going on with Joe. As for Knuckle Joe, he was in a similar situation, where he had to block various claw strikes and avoid being slammed into the ground. However, he was slammed down once, but easily was able to kick him off and over him. Just as he jumped up onto the ground, Yagami managed to grab Joe, his claw-like grip keeping Joe from escaping, and set him on fire. Seeing an opening within that attack, Kusanagi knocks Kirby away and starts to ignite his fist with the intention on delivering the finishing blow to Knuckle Joe. Thinking fast, Kirby delivers a flying kick to Kusanagi right before the punch could connect. Kusanagi attempted to counter but was hit with a Smash Punch in response. Using this opportunity, Joe breaks himself free from Yagami's grasp and delivers a powerful spinning back kick, slamming him so he was stuck in the ground.

"KNOCK OUT! THE WINNER OF THIS ROUND IS KIRBY AND KNUCKLE JOE!" Walky announced as the crowd cheered.

"Damn it! Yagami, what was that?!" he stumbled to his feet as his partner struggled to get out of the ground and dusted himself off afterwards.

"Don't blame me for your own weakness. This is why I work alone." He growled back.

"YOU JOINED WITHOUT BEING ASKED!"

A glare. "You got a problem with that?"

"Hell yeah I have a problem! Out back, now!" The two of them bolted out of the stadium, eyes still locked onto each other in rage. As Knuckle Joe and Kirby watched them rush off in confusion, the Waddle Dee with a white headband from earlier walked up to them with a sigh.

"…I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Good fight, you two! Sorry you had to see that. Good luck with the tournament!" the Dee said before rushing off after them.

"Well, that Dee was pretty friendly. What's wrong, Joe?" The puff looked over to see that his friend was clenching his head.

"I think I got a headache from those two." He uttered.

"Did they hit you in the head pretty hard? Do you need to get help?" Kirby questioned.

"No, I'll be fine." He replied with a sigh before they walked out for their short break.

The puff was starting to get hungry anyway.

* * *

The final round of the tournament was upon them.

"Hey, Joe! What are we doing for dinner?!" Kirby questioned in excitement.

"You do know we have to win the tournament first before we can, right?" Joe replied back with a shrug.

"What, you don't think we'll win?" he pouted back.

"Shhh! We're starting!" The fighter pointed to the microphone being, who was clearing his throat.

"Welcome back after our short interlude! We are about to begin the final Round of the whatever-annual Dreamland Tag Team Tournament! In this corner, we have the Pink Demon and Steal-Fist Joe!" The microphone then turned to the other side of the ring as the crowd applauded. "And in this corner, we have their opponents, Akira and Bio Shadow!" Across the ring was, to their surprise, a single fighter standing there.

"Yo, where's your partner? Did he chicken out or something?" Knuckle Joe looked around the arena.

The other fighter, Akira, gave a simple reply. "Ask him yourself, he's right behind you."

A ninja, clad in black, appeared behind them.

"Woah! Where did you come from?" Kirby exclaimed.

"A ninja never reveals his secrets." It took the puff a moment to realize where he had heard a phrase like that.

"You're related to Spark, aren't you?" Now that he got a good look at his opponent, he could see that he resembled a Bio Clan ninja.

"Ok, Shadow, that's enough messing around..." Akira sighed as the ninja teleported back over to his side.

"I never mess around, my friend. All my actions are deliberate."

"You know what I meant." He turned back to Knuckle Joe and Kirby. "Anyway, since you two got to the finales, you both must be strong. Good, testing myself against the strongest, that's the type of fight I seek."

Joe gave a slight laugh. "Then in that case, let's give him what he wants Kirby!"

"Yup!"

"Final Round! Fight!" Walky shouted with Joe unleashing a punch straight out of the gate. This was quickly dodged by the ninja, who flips over his head. He was too shocked to react further and was hit with a combination of fist attacks that immediately knocked him out.

"Ah! Joe!"

Kirby was engaging Akira while this happened, but now the second opponent joins in on the attack. They unleash a tag-team attack on Kirby, who tries to keep up while still being slowly worn down by the attack. The puff is taken to the edge of the arena. At this point, he's about to knocked out when...a wave from a Smash Punch suddenly hits Bio Shadow, knocking him out of the arena. Kirby looks in the direction it came from to see that Knuckle Joe was on his feet again.

"Let's finish this, Kirby!" Joe yelled, receiving a nod in response.

"RISING BREAK!"

Together, they deliver a powerful uppercut to Akira, knocking him out of the arena to the sounds of the cheering crowd.

"Holy smokes, did you see that, folks?! What a turnaround! The winners of this year's tournament is Kirby and Knuckle Joe! And what a victory! I haven't seen a match this intense ever since…" The duo ignored Walky's jabbering as they helped up their opponents.

"Well, looks like I was the one ten years early. Good match you two." Akira said once he was on his feet. Bio Shadow nodded as well.

"You've won the fight, but the battle will always continue. Keep strengthening yourselves and always remember: true warriors fight to protect, not to destroy."

The two warriors left the stadium, leaving Knuckle Joe and Kirby to enjoy their victory.

* * *

"And that's what happened today!" Kirby gulped down a bowl of chicken rice soup.

"Wow, did they really have that many tournaments that they forgot what number they were on?" Kawasaki questioned in amazement as he brought out two more plates of food.

"That's not the point, we managed to beat all of those opponents and won!" Knuckle Joe replied with a grin as he dumped some hot sauce into the curry dish he was served.

"I mean, that'd be impressive if you already didn't go to tournaments you weren't invited to just to beat up everyone there and prove you're stronger than everyone else…" The chef gave a bit of a sigh as he said that. "Besides, was there even a reward for participating in that other than bragging rights?"

Joe only shrugged in response. "I dunno. I don't really care about the rewards when it comes to fighting in tournaments. As long as we have fun, that's all that matters. Right Kirby?" he was given a nod in response.

"You said it! We're like the ultimate tag team duo!" The puff said with a smile back.

"Alright, then. I have to get back to the kitchen and finish more orders. Enjoy your meal!" Kawasaki bowed and returned to the kitchen.

The two friends continued to chat as they ate their victory meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter was a bit difficult to finish...
> 
> I came up with this idea while working on my first posted work, Dreamland on the Glittering Star and really wanted to post a non-crossover Kirby fic before I worked on the sequel to that. I actually finished the first chapter of DoGS's sequel before I finished this, so that was quite a problem, I think.
> 
> I don't plan on updating this frequently like I did with DotGS to give myself breaks.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Omake (Bonus):
> 
> Fiery-eyed ninja in yellow: Would you repeat that?
> 
> Waddle Dee: Um...I said you two are late, I'm sorry...
> 
> Fiery-eyed ninja in yellow: I blame your brother for this.
> 
> Blue ninja with icy breath: I'm not responsible for his actions. Besides, it's you who agreed to the fight.
> 
> (Waddle Dee begins to walk away slowly)
> 
> Fiery-eyed ninja in yellow: GET OVER HERE!
> 
> *(No Waddle Dees were harmed in the making of this omake)


	2. Simirror

**Chapter Two: Simirror**

It took a few days for Kirby to feel that he was mentally prepared enough to visit his friend, Simirror. He was firmly reminded why the moment he entered her house. Simirror's house was a literal house of mirrors, with the floor being the only place to not be covered in mirrors.

"So…uh…which way should I go…?" he uttered, only to realize he should make himself known beforehand.

"Ah! Simirror! It's Kirby! I've come to visit!"

There was no response, so he began to walk around. The more he walked around the house, the more disoriented he began to fee.

"H…hello?" he called out, shortly before walking straight into one of the mirror walls.

"Ow…" he shook his head in pain and walked further into the house.

"Hm… maybe she isn't home today?" he wondered aloud.

It might be because of how disoriented he was, but nobody seemed to be home right now. This continued on for several minutes until he came to what appeared to be another intersection of mirrors. The puff decided to go left and immediately slammed into another mirror. Kirby blinked a few times as he began to process what happened. He was slowly starting to realize that he was lost in his friend's house and let out a quiet sob at the thought that he would never step foot out of this home again.

"Ah…don't cry, Kirby! Oh, I may have gone a bit too far this time…"

Kirby froze upon hearing the voice and turned around to see that it was Simirror.

"H-how long were you standing there!?" the puff finally yelled when he was able to process his thoughts again.

"Um…sometime around the time you last called out for me…I would've said something earlier, but it was a bit amusing to watch you walk around my house…" The puff now had a teary-eyed pout on his face. Why did she want to watch him suffer like that? "Oh, but I think I went a bit too far…would you like to have some tea and cake?" The idea of food was enough to drain any annoyance or frustration Kirby had.

"Really?! Thank you!" he immediately ran towards his friend.

"Ah, Kirby, that's a mirror…" the puff slammed into the glass and was immediately out cold from the impact. "…maybe I shouldn't have so many mirrors in my house…oh well, it's not my problem."

* * *

The tea was ready by the time Kirby regained consciousness. There was a throbbing pain in his head, but it was blocked out immediately the moment he saw the cake and tea on the table.

"I see that you've finally woken up."

He had awoken to see Simirror reading a book upside down across the table from him.

"Yup! Ah…how are you able to read a book like that?" he asked with innocent curiosity.

"What's my specialty?" she asked in response. Kirby took a moment to think.

"Ok, but you're still reading it upside down."

"I picked it up like this and it makes no difference regardless. Once you get used to something, you can do it without thinking."

Kirby only silently drank the tea in response. It was typical of her to attempt to sound wise to others.

"Now it's time for me to ask my own question. Why have you come to visit me unannounced?" she questioned.

"Do I need to have a reason to visit a friend?" Kirby replied back.

"Generally, you do…especially if it's unannounced." she sighed.

"Oh…" he took a drink of tea. "Well…um…you seemed a bit lonely recently, so I thought we should hang out today!"

It took a moment for Simirror to process what had just been said, and she responded by clearing her throat.

"I appreciate your visit, Kirby." She then took a piece of cake.

"It's not a problem! I'm always happy to hang out with friends!" The puff was beginning to make work of the remaining cake on the table. Seeing this and remembering her friend's massive appetite, Simirror thought quickly.

"Well, if we're going to hang out today, would you like to play some chess?"

"Sure! If that's what you wanna do today!" Kirby's response was immediate.

"Then would you like to start playing now?"

"What's the problem with waiting until after lunch? Do you have something else planned for today?"

"…how much do you have to eat to consider it lunch?" she nervously questioned, finally deciding to bite the bullet.

"I dunno. I guess we can start when we're done with this cake." The puff gave an unsure shrug. Ok, so it was just the cake then. That put the mage's mind at ease a little more.

"Alright, then we'll do it after lunch." She nodded.

* * *

The room that Simirror kept her chess set in was the only one Kirby had seen that wasn't completely covered in mirrors, to his surprise. Was this possibly because she didn't want the mirrors to distract her opponent? Because it could be seen as cheating? Whatever the reason, Kirby was fine with it. The absurd number of mirrors in this house was starting to give him a headache.

"So, Kirby do you know how to play chess?" Simirror asked as she began to set up the board.

"I've never really played chess before..."

With a nod, the mage continued. "Then I'll teach you the rules before we start." The two sat at the table.

"You at least understand the basic goal of chess, right?"

"Um…you're supposed to capture the biggest piece, right?"

"That's correct, or checkmate the piece. That piece is called the King piece." Simirror continued to rattle on about how the pieces were moved until she noticed that her friend hadn't responded for a while.

"Kirby, are you paying attention?" She asked, now seeing that the puff had fallen asleep. Irritated, she created a mirror copy of herself, which teleported behind him and smacked him over the head.

"Ow…what was that for?" Kirby asked, rubbing his head.

"You feel asleep while I was explaining how to move the pieces in chess. Now, pay attention this time."

Kirby nodded and Simirror began to explain how each of the individual pieces were moved, how to win the game, and various other rules and techniques that are used while playing the game. It was a lot for Kirby to remember, but he thought he understood it.

* * *

Simirror easily won the first and second games. It wasn't that much of a surprise, as Kirby was still mostly unfamiliar with the game. By the third game, the puff seemed to have gotten the hang of the rules and movements of pieces. Upon losing the third game, Kirby suddenly spoke up.

"I get it! I understand it now!" he yelled, startling the mage.

"What is it? What do you get?" Simirror replied quickly, nervous at the sudden shouting.

"I think I understand how to play now!" he replied.

The mage gave a nod and began to reset the board.

Could he really have learned this quickly? Or is he saying that to keep her from feeling bad about constantly winning the past three games. While he did seem to be getting somewhat better, it was clear that there was a gap between their playing abilities. Perhaps she should go easy on Kirby to at least give him a chance of winning this time. Then, to her surprise, the puff took one of her pieces. This was something that had never happened in any of the previous matches they had played, so that put Simirror a bit on edge. She would have to take this seriously again. What followed was silence other than the back and forth tapping of pieces on the board. While Simirror had known the puff for some time, she was internally in awe about how quickly Kirby had improved when it came to playing this game. The puff was already known for his Copy Ability, which allowed him to use the powers of whatever he swallowed to turn the tide of battle in his advantage. However, he generally knows how to use those powers he copies instantaneously. Simirror was slightly envious of Kirby due to that, as it meant that she could spend all her time mastering mirror magecraft, but her friend will always be better at it than her because of that Copy Ability. This was not the case here. Anyone could play chess, but to play chess well, it took practice and learning. Kirby had been getting better at it through playing against her. Is improving himself in such a short time another ability that he had? Is that the secret to how he can use his Copy Abilities with little to no prior practice? For what reason would he need to train then? Was he even aware of this quick learning ability? Was this exactly what their mutual friends were talking about when they discussed his limitless potential? Was this what powerful fighters such as King Dedede and Meta Knight feared? The hidden power of a being that struck down eldritch monsters like it was shoveling a sidewalk?

"Simirror, are you ok?" Kirby finally asked.

The mage blinked a few times. "Oh, I'm fine, Kirby, now let's see here…" She looked down at the board. While Simirror had more pieces on the board than Kirby, it was clear that no legal move could be made.

"…is something wrong?" The puff asked.

"I can't make any moves, Kirby. We've reached a stalemate."

The puff gave an understanding nod before looking outside. "Ah! It's getting late!" he hopped out of his chair. "I have to get up a bit earlier for training tomorrow! So I have to eat dinner earlier today!" he continued with a stretch.

With a newer understanding of how her friend's Copy Abilities work, Simirror gave a nod. "Very well. Thank you for spending time with me today, Kirby. I really did appreciate it."

"It's not a problem! We should get together again sometime!" He said with a beaming smile before turning to the door they entered. He hesitated for a moment, as if remembering what happened when he entered the mirror maze earlier and stepped forward.

"Oh, wait a moment, Kirby." Simirror stopped him. "Look to the left."

Kirby turned and saw a straight hallway that led directly to the front door. "Ah! Thanks!" he was about to run down the hallway when he stopped himself and looked back at Simirror.

"Hey, we should play chess together again some time! That was a lot of fun!" he said.

His friend gave a nod in response. "I agree. It was quite fun playing against you. Feel free to come over at any time."

"Sure!" With a smile, Kirby walked down the hallway and exited the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot shorter than any of my usual chapters, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless.


	3. Saber Blade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I normally don't put notes at the beginning of my stories, but I feel I have to make note of this since not everyone reading this has read Dreamland on the Glittering Star. "Saber Blade" is the name I use for the Helper version of Blade Knight.

**Chapter 3: Saber Blade**

The clanging of metal rang throughout the morning skies of Dreamland. There was no doubt to anyone where it originated from. Kirby managed to dodge several sword slashes as he began to make his move to attack. With one final clash, it was finally over.

"Your dodging skills have improved. I'm quite impressed." Meta Knight pushed him back with his blade, breaking them up. "That's enough for today, Kirby. Well done."

Kirby gave an exhausted sigh as he lowered his sword and sat on the ground.

"Your endurance has improved quite a lot. However, as for things that need work…"

The knight's lecture was interrupted by clapping. "Very well done, both of you. Your fights never fail to amaze me."

The duo looked over to see the familiar form of a Blade Knight wearing Sword Kirby's hat watching them.

"Ah! It's Saber Blade!"

Knowing that her presence was now acknowledged, she took out her sword and planted it into the ground in front of her, placing both of her hands on top of it.

"Fare thee well, Comrade Kirby and Sir Meta Knight! Good to see that thou art in good health!" The two stared at her in silence. "In other words, wassup, homies."

The pink puff cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. "Um… nothing much. What's going on with you?"

Saber Blade returned the sword to her back and continued. "I was just passing by and saw both of you dueling and wanted to watch a bit…which reminds me of what I was doing in the first place!" The way she said that last part made it sound as if it was a sudden after thought. "You see, there have been reports of a dragon attacking a nearby village and I was planning on taking it down. You in?"

"Kirby, you should go with her. This would be good extra training for you."

"I was planning on going anyway!" The puff replied to his mentor with a pout.

"Cool beans. What about you, Sir Meta Knight? For sure you want to come along for extra training."

"Unfortunately, I have my own business to attend to, so I will have to pass this time."

"Bummer, man. What are you even doing anyway?"

Without another word, Meta Knight fully unfurled his wings and took off. Such a response was common for someone as secretive as the knight.

"Say Saber, why didn't ask your brother to come join us? He could be helpful and it's good to have more people to help you out in a big fight." The knight looked directly at him. "Nah, he'd just ruin the vibe."

"Oh, ok. Then how about the other Meta-Knights?"

"Most of them would just bring him along anyway, and my other homies are busy. So, it's just you and me, dude."

"Well, ok then! Let's get going!" the pink puff yelled as he started running off.

"Hey, wait! You're going the wrong way! Well... at least I know won't get bored..." The knight said in a tone that was mostly filled with amusement.

* * *

The village looked like any other that Kirby had seen, minus all of the repairs that were being done on the buildings. It was nestled within Prism Plains and close to a large forest.

"The tavern should be around here somewhere. That is usually where people post notices and requests..." Saber Blade was talking to herself.

"So...um...Saber, I'm just wondering, why do you talk the way that you do?" Kirby suddenly asked as they were walking through the town.

"Oh, are you that curious about it?"

"Uh-huh!"

Unfazed by such responses, Saber cleared her throat. "You see, speaking like this gives you the air of an honorable knight and warrior. Do you not think that?"

"It is, but it's sometimes hard to understand you when you speak like that..."

She turned her head towards him in surprise. "...well, I guess that is to be expected to a point..." she murmured, turning back to look again for the tavern.

"And what about the weird words you use like "homies"? Is that also part of being a knight? I've never heard any others use them before!"

"That's quite different. When I was but a child, I met some friends while wanting to take a break from my family. Those kids talked like that, and I started to talk like that as well the more I hung out with them. Due to sticking around them for quite a while, I guess it developed into becoming part of my normal vocabulary." She then stopped walking.

"Ah. There it is."

"Are you sure that's the right place?"

"Fo shizzle." The two entered the tavern and Saber began looking over the bulletin board. Kirby himself tried to help look, but all the fliers had so many words that he just didn't understand that it confused him a bit.

"Found it." The knight took down one of the pieces of paper. "Let's see here...according to this flier, the dragon is located in... Vocal Volcano? Has its territory really grown that large?" she grumbled under her breath.

"Vocal Volcano? Oh, I know where that is!" The pink puff exclaimed.

"I know where it is as well, but who could've imagined this fiend would have expanded its territory to such a size?! We must slay it immediately!"

Saber Blade immediately took Kirby's stub-hand and they rushed out of the tavern. In the pink puff's mind, he was slightly surprised that nobody noticed him. Usually, he couldn't go anywhere in Dreamland without a random citizen pointing him out. Is this because it was so far out of a village?

* * *

To save on time, the duo had taken a shortcut through Cushy Clouds and came across a peaceful lake.

"Saberrrrrrr...I'm hungry...can we eat yet?" Kirby began to complain.

"No way, fam. We're almost there, so hold on a bit longer." She replied.

"But I need foooood!" The puff slumped to the ground but perked up upon seeing a basket being placed on the ground.

"I'm only joking. I'm starting to get quite hungry myself." The child's eyes seemed to light up.

"AH! THANK YOU!" He jumped to his feet and immediately opened his mouth to inhale it, only stopping himself upon suddenly remembering that his friend needed to eat as well. Saber gave a sigh and set out the blanket for them.

"It's best if we take a break here to save and recover the rest of our energy for facing the dragon." She commented, receiving a nod in agreement from Kirby in response. Shortly after their meal, Kirby suddenly spoke up.

"You know, we should take a break for a bit longer!"

"Oh? Why do you say that?" the knight replied. The puff pulled out two fishing rods in response to that.

"Ah...why not?" She gave a nod and took one of the rods.

While they were fishing, Saber suddenly realized something. "Wait, do you just carry fishing rods on you at all times?"

"Not all times. Just some of the time. "

"Ok, but why though?"

"Well, what if I need to fish?"

"Fair enough. "

They then continued to fish in quiet.

* * *

After an hour or two more of walking, the two managed to reach the mountain. Kirby immediately recognized the mountain where the dragon was located as the more mountainous region of Vocal Volcano. He had been here before and remembered that it was actually a mountain and several volcanos. Why a dragon would like to be located here was unknown to him.

"According to the map, it's just a bit further up this mountain." Saber Blade looked back at Kirby, who gave a nod before they began to scale it. Avoiding the occasional falling rock, the duo trudged on.

"Um…Saber, I don't know if this is too personal, but…"

"Ask away, my comrade! As long as you allow me to ask my own question back."

"Why does it sometimes seem like you want to avoid Blade Knight?"

That was when she stopped walking.

"…Saber? Are you ok?" Kirby began to slightly panic.

It was that moment when he noticed a boulder tumbling down the mountain, straight towards them. The puff readied his sword and was about to cut it in half, when Saber Blade stepped in front of him, attacking it herself.

"That story is such a drag…" she seemed to grumble before giving a sigh. "Let us advance and I shall discuss it."

The two began to walk further up the mountain, with the knight cutting boulders that fell into their tracks.

"My younger brother was a…well…not the best when we were younger."

"You mean he was a bully?"

"Somewhat. He's gotten better over the years, which is why I still sometimes visit him. However, there are times where I just don't want anything to do with him."

"But he's family! Why wouldn't you want to deal with him?"

Saber Blade cut another boulder in half. "Because he just irritates me sometimes."

"When was the last time he did something that made you mad?"

"I don't remember."

"Then why?"

"It's a family thing, you wouldn't understand."

Kirby didn't know why, but he froze when he heard that response. It was as if his mind just simply stopped working and couldn't think. Saber Blade took notice of this and cut another boulder in half. She had known the puff long enough and could tell that she might have struck a raw nerve.

"Let's just not talk about it further, ok?" she said, receiving a small nod in response. They advanced further up the mountain.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to ask my own question." She rubbed the back of her head. "So why did you start training with Meta Knight, if you don't mind me asking."

Kirby gave a nod and began to speak. "Well, it's like…I don't know, it's a weird feeling. It's like…I feel I need to be around him. Like he's the only one that kinda looks like me …"

"It's something like an instinct then?"

"I guess, and that's why I wanted to become his student at first."

Saber gave a slight chuckle. "Surely, there can't be other ways to be around him, could there?"

"You mean like joining the Meta-Knights? No way! Those guys can be so mean at times!" Kirby replied with a pout.

"I know, I know. But don't you still have other ways?"

The puff took a moment to think. "…I mean, it's super-duper rare, but if we train at his base on a rainy day, we sometimes work on jigsaw puzzles together. But that's super-duper rare, so it doesn't happen! Other than that, no!"

Saber Blade cut apart another boulder before making another response. "So you think the only way you can be around him is to do something he's interested in, like training?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Did you ever tell him that?"

"No! He'd probably get super angry at me and cut me off if I asked!"

The knight had a firmer grip on her sword at that point.

"Besides, I don't mind it at all! I gotta train my Copy Abilities anyway, so why not?"

Saber Blade didn't respond.

"Though I sometimes wish we could do something together other than training or saving the world…" he added in a slightly wistful tone.

The knight only cut through another boulder and walked further up the mountain with her ally.

* * *

The top of the mountain was suspiciously quiet. The massive cave in front of them and the various bones and molted skin scattered about were the only things that remotely hinted at anything being present there.

"The dragon should be here. I can sense it…" Saber Blade uttered, sword at the ready.

Immediately, a burst of fire came out from the cave, causing the duo to dodge.

"Here it comes! Have at thee!" The knight shouted as the massive beast roared out of the cave.

"Ah! It must've just woken up!" Kirby exclaimed, dodging another burst of fire.

That was the moment that Saber noticed something. The dragon before them seemed to by trying to keep them from going further inside the cave.

"Kirby! Go further into the cave! I'll distract the dragon!"

"What's wrong?!"

"The dragon is guarding something! I need you to see what it is while I'm distracting them!"

Understanding the situation, the puff gave a nod. "Please be careful!" he shouted and ran into the cave.

It was mostly dark, but he could still see within it thanks to the light from outside and the fire from the combat happening outside. It was at that moment when Kirby saw four small creatures looking back at him. He blinked for a moment in surprise as he realized that he was looking at baby dragons.

 _"It's…just like with Dyna Blade!"_ he thought before running towards the exit of the cave. _"…I have to tell Saber about this!"_

Suddenly, the dragon blocked his path, but he easily was able to slide underneath it and return to Saber's side.

"What did you find?!"

"There are baby dragons in there!"

"Baby…!?"

The duo dodged another clawing attack from the dragon.

"Ah…I'm going to try to speak to the dragon! Hopefully, I can get her to calm down!"

Upon hearing that, the puff lost his footing and hit the ground. "Wait, how did you learn to talk to dragons?! You never told me about that before!" Kirby exclaimed with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure. Ever since I was born, I could speak to all kinds of lizards. Blade used call me weird and make fun of me for it. He was probably just jealous about it."

The puff took a moment to process what he was told. "…fo shizzle?"

"Fo shizzle."

The knight then turned to the dragon and began to speak to her. Kirby didn't understand the words his friend was saying, but it appeared to calm their opponent down, as its body language became less tense. What followed was a conversation between Saber and the dragon that Kirby himself couldn't understand but believed was a peaceful resolution. Eventually, the dragon retreated back to its cave without another word.

"Hey, Blade, what did you two talk about?" Kirby asked as they began to walk back down the mountain.

"The dragon was indeed a mother. She wasn't actually attacking the village. She was just trying to get food for her children, but her hunting ground coincidentally overlapped with the village. As a result, the villagers assumed she was attacking them and tried to defend themselves. This caused the dragon to also defend herself and that's why the village was attacked."

"Oh, so it's a simple misunderstanding!"

"Indeed. I also told her about an alternative place she can hunt where there's plenty of food and no villages nearby for her to worry about getting attacked."

"Well, I'm glad that this resulted in a happy ending!" Kirby exclaimed as they continued on.

"I'm glad, too. Though it may have felt like we came out here for jack all reasons, I'm happy we did because I got to spend time with you."

"Uh-huh! You wanna go get dinner then?"

Saber gave a slight chuckle. "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this might be one of my favorite chapters I've written so far.
> 
> Omake (Bonus):
> 
> MK: So, Kirby, did you learn anything valuable?
> 
> Kirby: Sho did, my homie!
> 
> MK: Oh no. (Mask breaks)


	4. Capsule J2

**Chapter 4: Capsule J2**

It was another peaceful day in Dreamland. Today, Kirby was taking a walk through a park situated in Cookie Country when he saw a paper airplane flying through the sky. Curious, the puff chased after it, jumped up, and grabbed it out of the air. There was only one person that he knew this could be from! He ran in the direction the plan flew from and saw Capsule J2 sitting on a bench, silently throwing airplanes while seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey, J2!" Kirby called out while bounding towards him.

"Oh, hey Kirby..." he seemed to barely acknowledge him as he began folding another plane.

"What's the matter? You seem down."

"Oh...it's nothing much..." The jet finished folding the paper. "Just I have an air show coming up in a few days, but I've yet to come up with any new ideas." He held it up silently, as if reading the wind.

"Ah! Maybe I can help you out with that!" The moment Kirby said that, the plane immediately crashed to the ground.

"...you, huh? Well...I guess with how you tend to think outside the box, you'd be a great help. Sure thing."

The puff gave a smile in response. "Great! Now, let's get started!"

With a nod, the duo walked off.

* * *

They came to a large field with a small cliff, perfect for taking off and landing. To start off with brainstorming, Capsule J2 performed various air maneuvers to show off what he had come up with so far for the aerial show. Kirby could only watch in awe at the sight. Soon, the jet landed on the cliff.

"That was amazing! Why do you think it needs to be improved?" he asked.

"While it is very good, yes, I feel like it needs something else. Anyone can create a show to wow the crowd, but it takes true skill to take it to another level."

The puff understood what J2 was saying. It was something like how he could instantly use his Copy Abilities, but it took practice and training to draw out their full potential. That was when he began to think hard.

"How about we…set you on fire?"

The jet stared back at him in silent horror. "...please rephrase that."

He then explained in an excited tone. "You know! Like a fire show! You'd be like comet soaring through the skies!"

"Or a jet plane crashing down..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Let's just skip the talk about fire for now, Kirby." J2 sat back down on a nearby bench and began to think again. Kirby followed along and sat next to him.

"Hm…I think I got something! How about instead of setting you on fire, you use a staff that's on fire! Then you can perform a lot of cool air moves while twirling the staff around!" The puff exclaimed.

The jet scratched his head for a moment before finally saying "Well, let's try it out with a regular staff first. I'd rather not jump straight into doing it with fire…"

With an understanding nod, Kirby tossed him a staff while he flew in the air. While maneuvering, he performed a few simple throws before landing back on the ground with his hand outstretched. He slightly looked around in panic upon seeing that the staff had not fallen yet and was hit in the head by it instantly.

"Ah! Are you ok!?" Kirby exclaimed.

"Yeah…this idea has potential, but I'll need a lot more time to perfect it. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I'll probably use it in a future show." He returned to the bench to continue thinking, with Kirby joining him.

* * *

It didn't take long for the pink puff to speak up again. It was shortly after the two of them took a break to eat lunch.

"Ah! I got another idea! How about you spin around in the air super-fast and create a small tornado! I think that would be super cool!"

J2 thought for a moment in silence. "…that has some potential. Let's try it out."

With that said, he took to the skies again. He spun in several loops within in the air to create a tornado, going faster and faster with each passing spin. Soon, the pink puff noticed that he was going way too fast for comfort, causing the resulting tornado itself to go out of control. Quickly, Kirby copied the Jet Ability and began to fly in the opposite direction to stabilize the tornado to a slowing halt and the duo landed on the ground.

Capsule J2 gave a sharp exhale. "The idea is good, but I just don't think I'm ready for that level of speed yet…"

"Yeah, if it wasn't for me, someone could've gotten hurt from that!" The pink puff exclaimed, sitting back on the bench to continue thinking of more ideas. His friend joined him with a sigh.

* * *

Several more failed attempts later, and Capsule J2 still could not find a good idea. The frustration of it all was clearly starting to catch up with him as well.

"Look, we've been at this for hours, I think we should just give up and…"

"No, we shouldn't! I said I'd help you and I will! Even if it's the last thing I do!" the puff replied with a serious look in his eyes and a pout on his face. The jet only gave a bit of a sigh in response. He had been familiar with Kirby long enough to understand that expression meant that he was serious.

"Wait! I think I have an idea!" Kirby jumped off the bench and ran off. Later, he returned with the Sword Ability.

"Ok, Kirby, but what does this have to do with…?"

"Just watch!" The puff gave a puff as the sword became a fire sword.

"…that's cool and all, but how exactly does it help?" the jet uttered.

"What did I just do?" The child replied in his normal cheerful voice.

"You…combined two… different… things…" J2 paused for a moment before continuing. "Are you suggesting I combine two separate maneuvers?"

"Yup! What do you think?"

The jet paused again to think. "Well, I think it's worth a try. Let's do it!"

The pink puff gave a nod as his friend gave a running start to take off of the hill.

"Ok, Kirby, I'm going to start with one trick, and I want you to count to 30. Once you reach 30, I want you shout out "Now!" and then I'll switch into a different maneuver!" he yelled back, receiving a nod in response. J2 began by shooting straight up. When he was a decent height in the air, he began to spin around in a corkscrew motion. He started to pick up speed, but it was not nearly as fast as earlier. They didn't want a repeat of earlier. The higher he flew, the more he began to look like a drill piercing the very skies above.

"NOW" Kirby shouted.

Upon hearing that, J2 shifted gears. He started to fly around the screw-like cloud he had created while performing the midair somersaults. After the fifth of his somersaults, he started to pick up speed and spun around the area five more times. After the fifth of those spins, he flew back and looked at what he made. The initial screw shape now looked like a drill that pierced the heavens above.

"Ok, yeah, this combo idea seems pretty good. OK, KIRBY, LET'S KEEP GOING!"

"YEAH!"

And with that, the duo continued training until sunset.

* * *

A few days passed and with each day the duo continued to train from morning until sunset and with each round of training, they made small adjustments to improve their new technique. Soon, the day of the airshow came. Kirby was surprised at the number of people who came to a small village just to watch an aerial performance. Though he didn't mind, the more people that saw it, the more shows his friend would be able to do. As he was looking around, he noticed J2 talking with a few other jets.

"Ah! Capsule J2!" The puff cried while running over to meet him.

As he ran towards him, he noticed that next to J2 were three other jets: a dark blue one, a light green one and a smaller maroon one. He assumed these three to be his teammates that were also participating in the show. His friend never really talked about them much with him, so he was somewhat excited to meet them himself.

"Hey Kirby, thanks for coming!" He replied, turning towards the excited ball of energy running towards him.

"No problem! I wouldn't miss something like this for the world!"

"Oh, he a friend of yours?" The light green jet questioned.

"Huh. You really are that popular, aren't you, hime-sama?" The dark blue jet wearing glasses said with a grin.

"Shut up. He's just a good friend of mine."

"I believe you've said that before, hm?"

"That's something completely different."

"I just came to say good luck with the show! I'm sure you guys will do a great job!" Kirby cut off their conversation.

"Yeah. Thanks again."

"Look alive, you three. We're going to be starting in a bit." A smaller maroon colored jet said while walking over towards them.

"Understood." J2 turned to Kirby, who nodded.

"I'm going to watch the show. Good luck!" With a wave, he walked off to wait for it to start.

* * *

The crowd around seemed to increase as the minutes pass. Kirby began to feel more fidgety the more he had to wait. It was likely a natural response to his own excitement to see the performance, and it was a commonly observed habit from what his friends told him. Not only that, but he felt a bit hungry. While waiting, he had already eaten the two lunches he had brought in case it would happen and was already wolfing down the third he had brought. But he knew he couldn't leave to grab anymore snacks or meals. He wanted J2 to know that he was there! It crossed his mind to start questioning why they would have it so late in the day. Wouldn't it be better to see an outdoor show if there was a ton of light out? The moment he began to think about that, several lights surrounding the stage flashed on, startling the puff.

"Listen to my song!" An unfamiliar female voice shouted from the stage as music began to play.

This made Kirby slightly confused, since Capsule J2 specifically mentioned this event being an airshow, not a concert. If he knew that, he would've signed up to be the singer himself! That was when he noticed the jet clouds appearing beside the stage. It appears that the team had taken off already. Between the jet trails in the sky and the beautiful singing from the long-haired hat-wearing Waddle Dee on a crystal mountain stage, it was a scene that managed to mesmerize the pink puff. Then came the big moment of this performance. J2 shot straight up into the sky. When he reached a decent height, he began to spin around in a corkscrew motion. He continued through the motions of their rehearsed performance, just as planned. That was, until the moment he completed it.

No one knew exactly what happened, maybe it had something to do with the wind, some other slip up, or perhaps it was even done on purpose, but the Waddle Dee on stage seemed to trip and fall right off the crystal mountain. The audience gasped and Kirby wished he had the Jet Ability right now to help, but he then noticed something that gave him relief. His friend, J2 managed to dive quickly down through the drill he had created and caught the singer just in time. As if making a swift recovery, the singer continued to sing as if nothing happened, now being carried by the jet. After that certain incident, the rest of the performance continued without a problem.

However, during the end performance, the puff looked up and noticed something in the sky. Alongside the drill that had been created was a giant cloud of sky art that looked very much like himself. Upon closer inspection, he could see that his friend was trailing away from it. The thought of it brought a smile to his face. However, in his heart, part of him wished that he was also flying in the sky with his friend.

* * *

After the performance finished, Kirby ran around the venue looking for J2. Soon, he was able to spot him talking with his teammates.

"Ah! Capsule J2! That was an awesome show!" the puff ran towards him with excitement.

"Thanks, Kirby. It's because of you that I was able to pull off that trick to wow the crowd." His friend responded with gratitude.

"Uh-huh! I thought it was so cool! It was even better than when we practiced it! And combined with the music and stuff!" His excitement caused him to speak faster and faster.

"I could tell you were amazed by it."

"Even with that slight mistake, it was still a great show." The green jet added.

"Yeah. She gave me a bit of a heart attack when she did that…"

Their conversation was cut off by J2's glasses-wearing teammate. "You know, J2, if you really wanted help so bad, you could have asked me!" He said in a friendly-smug voice.

Without missing a beat, J2 responded. "What, and separate you from your girlfriend?" He pointed towards the short maroon jet. Both jets blushed in response to that, the reasoning why, Kirby didn't fully understand.

"We aren't together!" The two jets shouted at the same time. Once they realized what had just happen, their already-present blushes became a darker shade of red.

"I rest my case." J2 said simply, his tone indicating that he was satisfied with that counter point. Shortly after that comment, the singer Waddle Dee and another dark green Waddle Dee walked up to the group.

"Good work today, J2, despite that hiccup in the performance." The singer said.

"You! Did you trip off the stage on purpose?!" he pointed directly at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Though, I trusted you to be able to catch me, is that bad?"

"If I was too late to catch you, it would have been…" he uttered in irritation, only to be cut off by the second Waddle Dee.

"J2 that show was amazing! Sheryl was also amazing, but you both were amazing together!" As the girl Dee prattled on, it began to remind Kirby of something…or rather someone.

 _"Hm…the way she acts around him reminds me of Ribbon…I wonder why that is…oh well, it's probably just my imagination!"_ The puff was immediately broken out of his thoughts by the girl Waddle Dee.

"Oh, you're Kirby, aren't you? J2 talks about you so much that I was excited to meet you! My name's Ranka! It's great to meet you!" She shook his stub-hand vigorously.

"Nice to meet you, too!" The puff exclaimed, unfazed by the sudden greeting.

"Ah, so you're that hero friend that he talked about." The singer began, looking him over. "I think you'd look a bit more noble based on how he talked about you…"

The puff gave a pout when she said that.

"Despite how he looks, he actually saved the planet from catastrophe many times." J2 uttered.

"It was just an observation. I'll guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

"Don't mind what she said too much. Sheryl's actually a pretty nice person once you get to know her." Ranka whispered to the pink puff, who gave a nod in response.

Other unfamiliar conversations began to happen, ones that Kirby couldn't really follow along with and it began to make him feel a bit awkward walking along with the group. Not only that, but it seems like that the friends had other plans for J2. If that was the case, he should probably leave. Just as Kirby began to start walking, he heard a voice that stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, hold up." He turned back to see that it was J2. "Where are you going, Kirby?"

The puff hesitated a moment before scratching his head while answering. "Oh…well, it kinda looks like your friends wanna spend time with you, so I don't wanna hold you up and…"

"You know that you can still stick around, right?" That alone was enough to stop Kirby in his verbal tracks. "I mean, Ranka was so excited to meet you, as you saw." He continued.

"Are you sure? Do you think they would mind?" The pink puff questioned back, receiving a slight laugh in response.

"Kirby, you have nothing to worry about. Now come on, we're grabbing dinner. I'm sure you're starving after waiting so long for the show." The puff adverted his eyes sheepishly once he pieced together that the jet had noticed that he ate three whole lunches while waiting for the show to start.

"Well, come on! I'm sure Sheryl wouldn't mind paying for your dinner!"

"Ok then!"

The puff ran to catch up with him. As the duo continued to walk together, Kirby's mind recalled his thoughts during the show. "Hey, J2…maybe next time I can join you in the air show? If it's fine with you, of course."

He got a slight smile back in response. "Sure thing, Kirby. I'd love to fly with you."

And with that. the two friends caught up with the rest of the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took a bit longer than I thought to finish. Though that should be a bit more expected now that my classes are in full drive now. It was probably also because this chapter was a bit difficult for me to finish. Either way, I'm sorry to keep those who are interested in this story waiting and I hope you understand.
> 
> Omake (Bonus)
> 
> Walky: Uh...due to unforeseen circumstances, we needed to have a replacement for tonight's music performance.
> 
> J2: Huh. I wasn't told about this...
> 
> Mic Kirby: Listen to my song, everyone! First is a song called "Do You Remember Love?"!
> 
> J2: Oh no...


	5. Jammerjab

**Chapter 5: Jammerjab**

It was another pleasant day in Dreamland. The weather was perfect, and everywhere was peace and quiet. A perfect setting for the Jambastion follower, Jammerjab, who was taking the opportunity to lay down on the grass while listening to his favorite music. Then he started to feel the ground shake a little.

"That's weird. Didn't know an earthquake was scheduled for today. They aren't doing that Megaton thing today, are they?"

The rumbling started to pick up in speed until finally Jammerjab could what was causing this disturbance. It was none other than Kirby dashing straight at him.

"Hey! HEY! SLOW DOWN!"

But he was too late, of course, and he was tackled in a hug by Kirby.

"Ow…ow…ow…ow…hey, watch it will you?!" he grumbled.

"Hi, Jammerjab! Whacha doing?" The puff seemed to have his usual limitless levels of energy.

"I was relaxing here until you came in and tackled me…" he seemed to grumble.

"Oh…sorry…" For a moment, the child seemed a bit downtrodden before resuming his normal energy levels. "Hey, so that means you're not busy, right?"

Jammerjab looked a bit puzzled. "Well…yeah, I wouldn't be laying out here if I wasn't busy..."

"Great! I was hoping you could teach me some things today!"

Now, that was strange. While Jammerjab was a recent addition to Kirby's large circle of friends, he knew enough that Kirby isn't the type to actively want to learn something.

"Well…ok then, what exactly do you want to learn?"

"About your Jamba-station group!"

The follower was slightly surprised by this. "You want to learn about the Jambastion religion?"

"Yup!" Kirby exclaimed in his usual happy tone.

"Well…why not go ask Lord Hyness about it? He's the leader of our religion."

"He's a bit weird at times…"

Jammerjab wanted to question that, but he was quick to remember why he said that.

"Then, what about Zan Par?"

"I might fall asleep if she goes on one of her lectures…"

He knew that all too well.

"Flamberge?"

"Too scary."

Understandable.

"Francisca?"

"I want it to be you!"

At this point, Jammerjab knew that he couldn't say no. "So, what exactly about the Jambastion religion do you want to know?" he asked.

"Um…a lot of things!"

"But what exactly? That's not very specific."

"I don't know!" That was a response typical of Kirby.

"Can't you think of something?"

"Hm…ah! How about the language?"

With that response, Jammerjab gave a nod. "Alright, then follow me."

The duo headed off, where to, the pink puff didn't know.

* * *

When the duo arrived, it was at a place with a lot of other Jambastion religion followers.

"Are these guys going to help teach me?" Kirby questioned.

"Eh...yes and no. Just pay close attention to what I say."

After saying that, Jammerjab walked up to a group and greeted them with a casual "Bonjam.". Kirby attempted to follow their conversation as it went on from there, but it only became harder and harder after the initial "bonjam". Though the main reason he knew that word was because the Mage Sisters and Hyness said it to him so many times that he just knew it. Eventually, it came to a point in the conversation where Jammerjab gave a casual "Jambuhbye" before turning and walking back to where Kirby was standing.

"Did you understand any of the words that we were saying?"

The pink puff scratched his head. "Um... a bit of it. I know that "bonjam" means hello and "jambuhbye" means goodbye..."

His friend nodded. "Alright, anything else?"

"Um... I know that "majilious" means delicious... and "jes" means yes...and I think that's about it..."

His friend gave an understanding nod. "Well, that's not a bad start. Oh, wait right here. I'll be right back."

Jammerjab jumped onto the top of his staff and proceeded to pogo stick away leaving a partially confused and amused Kirby by himself. A few minutes Jammerjab came pogoing back with a notebook in hand. "Here, Kirby, this might help you. It's a list of words in our language."

"Thanks! Ah…but… um, why didn't you just give this to me from the start?" There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Jaway." He responded a bit bashfully.

Confused, Kirby looked to see the first word was "jaway", which meant "I forgot".

* * *

It was later while walking when the puff asked his next question.

"Who is in charge?"

Jammerjab gave a confused look. "You already know that Hyness is in charge."

"Yeah… oh… um… then I guess, why is Hyness in charge?"

His friend cleared his throat. "He's the founder of the religion, of course. He had a vision where a god invited him to a new, peaceful land. He formed his religion based on this vision to seek paradise."

"And Void?"

"Lord Hyness at one point read about some of the legends about Void and noticed that a lot of the lore matched up with what he saw. Because of that, he thought that Void was the god who spoke to him and that's why he created this religion based around worshiping him."

There was a moment of silence again.

"Where do you stand in the Jambastion religion?" The puff finally asked.

Jammerjab pulled out a pyramid diagram and laid it out before Kirby. "Being the leader, Hyness is at the top of the chain of command. Below him are Zan Par, Flamberge, and Francisca. They are the generals and priestesses of the religion. I would be below them, as the Jammerjabs are their subordinates. Then below us are the Jambelievers, who are non-combatants. Do you understand?"

After receiving a nod, he took back the pyramid diagram. "Oh, why do you always listen to all that music you listen to?"

The follower gave a confused look. "What does that have to do with the Jambastion religion?"

"Um…well, I never really heard that kind of music before, so I thought it was related to the religion!"

Jammerjab gave a slight laugh. "Oh, right. I guess you're a rock kind of guy, aren't you?"

The puff tilted his head in confusion. "No, that's Rocky."

His friend shook his head. "Well… anyway. I tend to listen to a lot of music genres. This one that's playing now is called blues, and it's one of my favorites."

There was a pause, as if Jammerjab wanted Kirby to listen for a bit. Honestly, the pink puff was slightly puzzled why someone would want to listen to songs with such sad lyrics.

"It helps me relax, always has to be honest. Even before I joined the religion, I could always rely on my radio to get me through each day." He said with nostalgic tone.

"Then, you weren't always a member?"

"Nope, before then I was nothing more than a street punk."

"So, why did you join? If you don't mind me asking."

With a nod, the follower took a seat under a nearby tree with his friend. "As I told you, I used to be a street punk before I joined the Jambastion religion. That was until I met Elena, another one of the followers and she was the one who changed my life. It's not much, but it meant a lot to me. You could say that I see everyone here as family."

"Um…then why did you fight alongside me when the incident happened with Void?" The puff asked.

"That's simple. I didn't understand why Hyness wanted to destroy the universe. Like if the universe was destroyed, what would he do next? What would any of us do next? We wouldn't exist if that were the case, don't you think?"

"Uh-huh." Kirby didn't really expect such a deep thought to come from him. He then sat in silence for a moment.

"…hey, Kirby, are you ok?" Jammerjab finally asked.

"Yeah…um…" the puff hesitated again before speaking. "Can…can you tell me why that Void thing looked like me?"

The follower scratched his head. "What are you talking about- oh. Well, that's weird." He uttered just suddenly remembering exactly what Kirby was talking about. "I dunno. Maybe he's your uncle?"

"SO I KILLED MY UNCLE!?"

"I said maybe."

"Maybe? MAYBE?! That doesn't help at all!"

Jammerjab was taken aback by the sudden uncharacteristic outburst from his friend.

"What if I am related!? What if…" the puff's expression changed from anger to sorrow.

"What if…I become like Void…? What if I end up destroying the universe like Void was going to…?" The expression on his face was one that the follower had never expected to see on his face before: one of pure despair.

That was when Jammerjab realized how much Kirby was visibly shaken and scared by the thought of having any connection with the destructive being known as Void. Despite the genuine curiosity that the puff had earlier when asking all the questions he did about the Jambastion religion, the follower got the vague feeling that this was his true reasoning for asking him about it. Seeing no other option, Jammerjab lifted his staff and gave Kirby a light bonk on the head, snapping out of his trance.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Kirby said with an irritated pout on his face.

"To get you to stop and to pay attention." Jammerjab cleared his throat and continued. "I don't know if you're related to Void or not, but if there's one thing I can tell you about, it's this. If you are related to Void, who cares? That doesn't change who you are."

The puff fell quiet.

"And who you are right now is Kirby. That's all that matters."

There was a moment of pause before the puff gave a smile in response. "…jamanke."

Jammerjab gave a silent nod in response. However, he was still slightly bothered by the expression on his friend's face a few minutes ago, so he felt that he should stick around Kirby for just a little bit longer. Not only that, but he seemed to still have a ting of the previous horror in his face. "Hey, do you want to go on a walk or something?"

The puff's face seemed to light up upon hearing that. "Sure! I'd love to!" the child exclaimed.

With a nod, the two were off.

* * *

For the remainder of the day, the duo went on a walk throughout the fields of Dreamland. It was as peaceful as always. At one point in their walk, Kirby turned back to Jammerjab.

"Hey, can I sing along to your music?" he suddenly asked.

His friend froze for a moment, sweating a bit upon hearing that.

He cleared his throat. "Nah…it doesn't fit you much. Besides, there's not much singing going on in blues anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit longer than I hoped.
> 
> Again, uploads will slow down even more thanks to classes. Japanese is a difficult language to learn, especially when combined with math classes. 
> 
> Sorry if you've been waiting for the next chapter for a while.
> 
> I might start posting updates on this and my other stories on Twitter, so follow me at @KachiKirby. Or if you just want to see me talk about mecha anime and Kirby, that's also fine.


	6. Plugg

**Chapter 6: Plugg**

It was another peaceful day in Dreamland and Kirby wanted to sleep in today. However, those plans were cut short when he heard a loud banging on his door. A bit annoyed, Kirby jumped out of bed and opened the door to reveal Knuckle Joe. Strangely, though, his friend's normally cheerful expression was replaced with a serious one.

"Oh, hey, Joe. Today isn't sparring day, is it?" The puff uttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"No, there's something serious I need help with."

Kirby immediately perked up when he noticed that there was a hint of worry in his friend's voice. "Hm? Did something bad happen?"

"Well, not to me, but yes. It's Plugg. Something's wrong with them and I can't figure out what to do." Hearing this caused Kirby to immediately throw off his nightcap and run out of his house.

"Where's Plugg right now?"

"They're not too far from here! Follow me!"

Knuckle Joe led Kirby to a nearby tree. The moment he arrived there; he witnessed an unusual sight. Sitting at the base of the tree was Plugg, who appeared to be continuously letting electricity out of their body, sending shockwaves through tree, and making it look somewhat like it was decorated in Christmas lights.

"Ah! Plugg! What's going on? What's wrong?" the puff shouted.

"I don't know! I just was walking around and then I started to discharging electricity!" Kirby scratched his head a bit as he thought. "Well, what have you done to try to stop it?"

"Well, normally, I just need to plug myself into any kind of electric source and it usually sorts itself out, but none of my usual sources have helped!"

The puff continued to scratch his head. "Do you have any other ideas that may work?"

"If I did, I wouldn't need belp-...I mean, help! Oh, sorry I didn't mean to yell like that, please help!"

Kirby thought for a bit more before he finally got an idea. "I think I know a place that might have enough electricity to help. But..."

"But watt!? Spill the beanz...I mean, beans!" Plugg shouted frantically.

"Well... this place is on another planet... and last time I was there, a giant robot tried to kill me."

Plugg gave an irritated look. "Oh, is that all? Then hurry up and tske me...I mean, take me!"

Knuckle Joe punched his fists together. "I'll come too. Sounds like you could use some help if another giant robot comes after you. Plus, you need someone to carry Plugg around." He grabbed Plugg and raised them up. "Come on, Kirby, let's go!"

"Yeah!" Kirby called upon the Warp Star and the group prepared to head out.

"How are you picking me up anyway, Joe?"

"Rubber gloves."

* * *

The planet Shiver Star was unchanged from when Kirby last visited it. It was still cold, still full of factories, nothing different. It made the puff shiver a bit to be here. This contrasted to both of his friends, who appeared to be mostly unfazed by the low temperatures.

"Hey, Joe, aren't you cold at all?"

His friend shook his head. "Nope, my burning passion gives me all the warmth I need." Knuckle Joe replied with a completely straight face.

"Well, ok then! How about you Plugg?" Their friend had been shaking as they walked through the snowy wilderness.

"No need to worry, my friend. Our kind doesn't really have a concept of cold."

"Then why are you constantly shivering?"

After the fighter said that, Plugg gained an irritated look in their eyes. "...Joe, why are we here again?"

In response to that, the fighter smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh...duh... ok, I'll shut up now."

"No, you don't have to shut up, Joe. Just be careful not to say anything dumb."

"I'm not sure that's something I have control over, Plugg." Joe said with a sweat.

"Oh really. How shocking... oh, I'm sorry, I did it again." The electric friend uttered with slight embarrassment.

"Eh, no sweat. I'm sure you're just really worried about your problem right now. Besides, I've heard people say worse things to me whenever I beat them at tournaments."

Kirby gave a slight sigh upon hearing that. They continued walking for a bit longer, but all of the buildings they came across were too small to be used. If they wanted to help Plugg, the puff knew they had to find that large, continuously operating factory soon.

"So, Kirby, how much farther is-PZZZZZZZZTTTTT" Suddenly, Plugg started discharging even more electricity than before, causing Joe to jump out of the way in surprise.

"AHHHH! HOLD ON, PLUGG!" Kirby took out a Plasma Ability Item he brought for an emergency and transformed into Plasma Kirby. Working quickly, he started to help contain Plugg's sudden outburst of energy. It took several minutes, but soon, the electrical outburst was put under control again.

"Are you alright now, Plugg?" The puff questioned as he was about to drop his Ability Item, but then decided to keep it equipped just in case.

"Not completely. Ow, that really hertz..." His friend groaned.

"Yeah, we really gotta find that factory you were talking about soon, Kirby." Knuckle Joe uttered.

The puff gave a nod. "We should be close by. I'm starting to recognize this area we're in..."

* * *

Soon, the group arrived at the large factory. As Kirby had mentioned before, it was continuously operating, producing more and more robots as time passed.

Joe gave an impressed whistle upon seeing the even larger interior. "Man, Kirby, you weren't kidding when you said this place was big. You know where the power source is?"

"Sorry, but that's something we're going to need to find." Kirby uttered, with a bit of embarrassment in his tone.

"Didn't you say you've been here before!? Didn't you pat atejjtion... I mean, pay attention!?"

"It's not my fault! I was busy searching for the Crystal Shards! Plus, a giant robot attacked me!" The puff gave a panicked response as he was snapped at.

"Oh right, zorry. Well... whatever. The fact that this abandoned factory is still running even after the Crystal Shards incident means that the power source should really help."

Joe looked around again, noting how big it was. "Should we split. You know, to cover more ground?"

Kirby shook his head. "I don't think we have to worry about that, Joe. This factory might be huge, but it's pretty easy to navigate. Plus, if another giant robot shows up, we can easily combine our powers!"

"Yeah! You said it!"

"Hopefully, we find it soon..." Plugg seemed to groan.

* * *

As the trio were exploring the factor, Kirby suddenly stopped.

"Wait… you two, don't go in that room…at least not yet."

Joe and Plugg, who had been walking ahead of the puff, turned to look back at him. While the fighter gave an understanding nod, Plugg gave an irritated look.

"Kirby, I get that you want to be careful, but I'm in a hurry right now. Besides, wattz the worzt that could happen?"

As soon as Plugg stepped inside the room, a machine with a massive hammer suddenly activated and slammed down at the unsuspecting Plugg. But before Plugg could get flattened, Joe jumped in front of them and stopped the hammer with a well-timed punch.

"Oh boy, that was scary…!" their friend uttered.

"That's exactly why I said to not go in there yet!" Kirby yelled with a pout.

"Oh…sorry, Kirby…" Plugg uttered with guilt.

"It's okay, just be more careful! I don't want either of you to get hurt!"

After Kirby said this, the group then noticed that they were suddenly moving conveniently in the direction they were going towards. There was no doubt that this was a conveyor belt.

"Come on, guys! Let's pick up the pace!" Knuckle Joe shouted with excitement, now giddy off the thought of running on a conveyor belt.

"Wait a second, Joe. I think we should take a small break..." Kirby said.

"What for? I still got plenty of energy left."

"Well, yeah, I know, but..." The puff then pointed towards the clearly exhausted Plugg.

The friend in question shook their head. "Kirby, I appreciate the concern. Truly I do. But blease don't ztop. Joe can carry me if needed."

"See!? Nothing to worry about, now let's go!" Joe said, getting ready to run with Plugg on his back.

"Slow down Joe this place is dangerous!" Kirby quickly looked around. There was no doubt that "it" would be arriving soon. The scenario was just like it was back then. However, the puff had no choice but to continue on with the search.

* * *

The conveyor belt path eventually led them to a room with several closed gates on all sides, with one gate in the middle that was open. Through that gate was what appeared to be the massive power source they were searching for. It was just as Kirby remembered it. The only thing missing was...well, he didn't want to think about it right now. He needed to focus on helping Plugg for now.

"Finally! Letz hurry up and-"

But before they knew it, the open gate shut tight and closed gates that surrounded the group opened. Then, a swarm of drones entered, as if they were looking to stop them from progressing any farther.

"There's so many of them! Heh! This'll be a nice challenge!" Knuckle Joe got in a fighting stance. "Come on, Kirby! Let's get 'em!"

With a nod in response, they began their attack. Kirby and Joe immediately started fighting off the incoming threat, but for every drone that was destroyed, five new ones took its place. Soon, the trio were backed into a corner. During this, Plugg noticed that there was simply too many enemies surrounding them. There was no way that even Joe and Kirby would be able to take them all down alone.

 _"This is all my fault we're in this mess... if only I was able to do something. Wait..."_ Plugg suddenly shouted. "Kirby, how much electricity do you have left?"

"Enough for one big blast, why?"

"On the count of three, let's combine our powers to blow them all up."

"Are you crazy!? You can't do that in your condition!" Kirby said, simultaneously shocked and concerned.

"We'll never know if I don't try. Besides, you know there's no way we're going to get through this number of enemies otherwise..."

Kirby pursed his lips in irritation, knowing that truth in the back of his mind. "...ok, fine. But only because the power source is so close. Joe, get to the closed gate!"

The fighter nearly stumbled when he heard that. "What!? Why?"

"Trust me. "

He could only nod in understanding. As soon as Joe got to the gate, Kirby and Plugg started gathering all the energy they could.

"1... 2... 3... NOW!"

At that moment, a giant ball of electrical energy was released, destroying all the drones that had begun to attack the group. After that, the closed gates began to open.

"Joe, catch!"

As soon as Kirby said that he threw the barely conscious Plugg at Knuckle Joe, who easily caught them and sprinted towards the factory's power source as fast as he could.

"Plugg, come on! Stay with me!" he shouted.

"Ughhhhh...no more airplane peanuts for me, mam'..."

That only made the fighter run even faster.

* * *

It didn't take long for Plugg to regain full power.

"How ya feeling, buddy?" Joe asked.

"I... FEEL GREAT! Look, no leaking! No random discharges! I'm cured!" Plugg shouted happily while jumping around all over the place. Kirby and Joe just looked on with satisfied smiles on their faces. Though one big question come to mind the longer they stood there.

"Hey, Plugg. Now that you're feeling better, do you think you can tell us how you got like that in the first place?" Kirby asked in his usual innocently curious way.

"Well, I think I know why but…it's embarrassing…" Their friend adverted their eyes while saying that.

"Oh, come on, Plugg! How bad could it be?" Joe responded with a grin.

"Well fine...I ate an expired bag of potato chips..." After Plugg said that, only silence remained. Then came the confusion.

"Wait… just... wait... how do you eat?" Joe asked, incredibly confused. Not that anyone could particularly blame him, considering Plugg's seemingly lack of a mouth.

"What kind of question is that? I eat like everyone else, with my mouth." Plugg said in aggravation.

"What mouth!?"

"The one on my face!"

"What face!?"

"What do you mean "what face"!? I have a face!"

But before this comedic back and forth could continue, Plugg noticed that Kirby, who was oddly silent the whole time, was shaking.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kirby suddenly started laughing.

"Oh, come on… it's not that funny…" Plugg mumbled, a bit irritated at that reaction. But before long, they started laughing with the pink puff. Soon Joe followed with his own big laugh.

* * *

After taking a moment to get their laughter under control, Plugg looked directly at Kirby and Joe, a serious expression apparent to all.

"Be honezt. Are you two upzet with me for dragging you both into this mess?"

"Of course not! We're friends after all!" Kirby said in his usual optimistic tone.

"Yeah, besides this was fun. Kinda wish I got the chance to fight that giant robot Kirby kept bringing up." Joe said. Suddenly, as if the world itself heard Joe's statement, the wall behind the trio was destroyed, revealing the same type of giant robot Kirby fought so long ago.

"...Joe, I blame you for thiz." The giant robot slammed one of its arms down, which the group was able to dodge.

"Ahhh! Run for your lives!" Plugg screamed while running away at lightning-fast speed. As Kirby was getting ready to attack, he noticed that Joe was in a fighting stance instead of running away.

"Joe, what are doing!? We gotta go!"

"What and miss this chance? Go on ahead I'll catch up." he gave a few small jumps to warm himself up as he punched his fists together.

Kirby hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "...fine, but as soon as I catch up to Plugg, I'm coming back!"

After Kirby left, Joe got in his fighting stance.

"Alright, you walking junkyard, get ready! RISING BREAK!" Joe unleashed one of his strongest attacks on the giant machine...only for it to do nothing outside of making a couple of scratches.

"...well, crap." He then gave a slight grin.

"Ah…well, I like a good challenge! And I can tell that you're gonna give me one!"

As expected, the robot gave no response outside of the whir of an engine.

* * *

Eventually, Kirby finally caught up to the frightened Plugg, who was running faster than usual. Whether it was due to fear-induced adrenaline or the recent surge in power, Kirby wasn't quite sure. However, that question can wait.

"Plugg, wait! Please, stop!" he shouted out to his friend.

"Are you kidding!? That thingz scarier than that expired bag of chips!"

"Well, I don't care about that, but…anyway, there's no need for us to run!" Kirby replied back calmly, clearly used to these kinds of situations by now.

"Watt?! Do you expect me to fight that thing!? That thing could crush me in a second! I mean, sure I'm super strong and cunning, as you already know… but what if it's resistant to electricity? Or it has heat-seeking missiles? Or what if it's made of metal that's indestructible? Or what if we defeat it and there's actually an even stronger and deadlier security robot behind it! Or what if it calls even more drones that are more powerful than the drones we fought before! Or what if it instead calls more security robots! Or… or… or… or what if-!"

While Plugg was in the middle of their paranoid rant, Kirby pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number to make an important call. In a few seconds, the Warp Star came by. Kirby jumped onto it first and then pulled his panicking friend onto it.

"Oh, thiz iz watt you meant. Heh heh… sorry…" His friend uttered in embarrassment.

"It's fine, Plugg! Now we just gotta pick up Joe and then we can go home."

* * *

While Kirby and Plugg were heading towards Joe, the fiery fighter was currently in the process of getting smacked into a wall. It was then somehow that he was able to break loose from its grip and skid across the ground.

"Darn it! Kirby beat this thing before! What gives?" he grumbled under his breath, struggling to keep himself standing.

Just then, the machine stopped moving for a moment and began charging up to fire a laser beam. The beam fired but right as Joe was about to be hit, the Warp Star made it just in time and Kirby was able to grab Joe and escape.

"Hey! Let me go! I can still fight!" Joe shouted, despite being clearly exhausted. He was thrown straight onto the star next to Plugg.

"Joe, how many fingerz am I holding up?"

"Uhh…four?"

"…Joe I don't have handz."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Wait, then how do you eat without hands?"

"We've been over thiz already, I eat things with my mouth."

"Again, what mouth!?"

"Do you two want me to turn this star around?" Kirby suddenly mumbled in irritation.

"No, no, we'll be good!" Joe and Plugg both frantically said together.

Soon enough, the Warp Star speed up enough to completely leave the giant machine in its dust, allowing the trio to escape from Shiver Star unscathed… except for Joe's bruised body and ego.

"Kirby." Joe said, clearly annoyed that he couldn't do anything to that robot. "When we get back, we're sparring."

The puff turned to him in surprise. "What!? But you said today's not sparring day!"

"Well, it is now! So, you better prepare yourself when we get back!"

Kirby gave a slight sigh in response. It was likely just an attempt to train himself to become stronger and repair what was left of his competitive friend's broken ego. It was then that he noticed that Plugg was being surprisingly quiet.

"Hey, Plugg, is something wrong? Are you feeling ok?" The puff asked.

Plugg jumped a bit in response. "Well... um..." they began to speak up.

"Um...I'm sorry, again. You know, for making you both go through all that trouble just for me." Plugg finally said, a bit sadly.

Unexpected to them, Plugg was enveloped in a hug by their pink friend. "You don't need to worry about anything, Plugg! Sure, things got really dangerous, but you're cured and that's all that matters to me!"

The puff's friend paused for a moment. "Yeah, but..."

"Plugg, you were in trouble and we helped you because we wanted to. You don't need to dwell on it." Joe gave a reassuring grin in response.

"Then... thank you both." Plugg uttered happily.

The rest of the trip to Popstar was spent in comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this was a fun chapter to write, I still think that Saber Blade's was my favorite so far.
> 
> But, that's bound to change, as always.


End file.
